Paradox: A Metacritic history

In 1995, what would become Swedish video game developer Paradox Development Studio was founded. Paradox Development Studio develops the games that the company is known for like Europa Universalis and Crusader Kings, while its parent company Paradox Interactive publishes various PC games. This article will only be looking at games developed by Paradox Development Studio and will not be factoring in DLC.

Paradox Development Studio’s Metacritic history

Out of the 19* games developed by Paradox, seven (36.84%) have received an average Metacritic score of at least an 80 and 15 (78.94%) have gotten an average score of at least 70. So far there best-received game has been 2001’s Europa Universalis II (87).

*Does not count 2012’s Pride of Nations: The Scramble for Africa (PDS’s 20th game) since that has no reviews on Metacritic.

The chart below shows the number of Metacritic reviews that each Paradox Development Studio game has received on the site.

Below is a table showing each game, its release year, the Metacritic score it received and the number of critics who reviewed it on the site.

Game

Year

Systems

Critic Score

# of Critics

Europa Universalis: Crown of the North

2000

PC

61

9

Europa Universalis

2001

PC

86

11

Europa Universalis II

2001

PC

87

11

Hearts of Iron

2002

PC

72

13

Victoria

2003

PC

58

12

Europa Universalis: Two Thrones

2004

PC

52

10

Crusader Kings

2004

PC

73

26

Hearts of Iron II

2005

PC

83

27

Diplomacy

2005

PC

58

23

Europa Universalis III

2007

PC

83

25

Europa Universalis: Rome

2008

PC

73

19

Hearts of Iron III

2009

PC

77

23

Victoria II

2010

PC

75

17

Sengoku

2011

PC

70

13

Crusader Kings II

2012

PC

82

31

Pride of Nations: The Scramble for Africa

2012

PC

N/A

N/A

March of the Eagles

2013

PC

71

19

Europa Universalis IV

2013

PC

87

34

Stellaris

2016

PC

78

57

Hearts of Iron IV

2016

PC

83

37

Finally, let’s take a look at the highest and lowest scores that each Paradox Development Studio game has received, as well as what percentage of reviews gave a game a perfect score of 100.

Game

Highest Score

Lowest Score

% of 100s

Europa Universalis: Crown of the North

88 (1)

30 (2)

0%

Europa Universalis

92 (1)

70 (1)

0%

Europa Universalis II

100 (1)

79 (1)

9.09%

Hearts of Iron

90 (1)

40 (2)

0%

Victoria

75 (1)

30 (1)

0%

Europa Universalis: Two Thrones

80 (1)

24 (1)

0%

Crusader Kings

94 (1)

50 (2)

0%

Hearts of Iron II

95 (1)

50 (1)

0%

Diplomacy

90 (1)

10 (1)

0%

Europa Universalis III

92 (1)

70 (1)

0%

Europa Universalis: Rome

92 (1)

55 (1)

0%

Hearts of Iron III

90 (2)

50 (1)

0%

Victoria II

95 (1)

50 (1)

0%

Sengoku

83 (1)

50 (2)

0%

Crusader Kings II

95 (2)

60 (1)

0%

Pride of Nations: The Scramble for Africa

N/A

N/A

N/A

March of the Eagles

85 (1)

50 (1)

0%

Europa Universalis IV

100 (2)

70 (3)

5.88%

Stellaris

93 (1)

20 (1)

0%

Hearts of Iron IV

100 (1)

50 (2)

2.70%

The next game that Paradox Development Studio is working on is Imperator: Rome, which currently has a 2019 release date. It is a sequel to their 2008 game Europa Universalis: Rome.